Governmental campaign against refugees and migrants in Hungary

As the Hungarian government is losing support while Jobbik is on the rise as its most important challenger, Viktor Orbán is trying to halt the popularity of the far-right party by putting two of Jobbik’s favourite issues on the political agenda: anti-immigrationism and death penalty. These efforts are rather signs of weakness then strength in the sense that they are showing the desperate fight of the government against popularity loss. While we expect that this radicalisation of Fidesz’s rhetoric will be unsuccessful in raising the popularity of the governmental party, these issues will help Jobbik legitimise its political stance and get closer to the mainstream of politics. While raising the issue of death penalty is only empty talk without policy consequences, the “national consultation” (non-representative push poll) of the government against “economic migrants” and refugees in Hungary can result in the restriction of the already extremely rigorous regulations over immigration.

Read Political Capital's analysis on the website of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Budapest.